1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of video conferencing.
2. Related Art
In a video conference, it is often typical that one camera is focused on multiple users sitting at different distances from a camera. For example, two users may be using a laptop web camera to perform a video conference. In such a case, since physical space is limited in front of the laptop, one user may be located behind the other user. However, depending on the particular camera and each of the users' particular geometry, optical distortions may cause one user to appear significantly larger than the other in the video stream, even though their distance from each other and from the camera may be marginal. In particular, this may occur when the users are seated close to the camera. Moreover, the physical space where the users are located may have a variety of light sources positioned at different places. Accordingly, in some cases, one user may have more light focused on him or her than the other user. In such a case, the user with more light may appear brighter in the video stream. What is needed therefore is an improved methods and devices for video conferencing.
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the reference number